A Soft-Shell Crab to Top Your Toast

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Melissa Clark shows how soft-shelled crabs are at their best when broiled until crisp. Serve them on garlic-rubbed toast with a bright parsley-jalapeno sauce.Published OnJune 20, 2014CreditImage by Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Of all the things you may put on toast, one of the best has claws. The soft-shell crab isn’t as classic as, say, butter and jam. But when the crabs are in season, there are few better ways to savor them.

This is because a perfectly cooked soft-shell crab is crisp at the claws and plump in the belly, ready to crackle and erupt with every bite. Charred toast crust heightens the crunch, while the soft center crumb sucks up the juices, not a drop lost to the plate.

This concept can take many forms — sandwich, crostini, po’boy. Here, I keep things simple by plopping some quickly broiled crabs on toasted bread and serving them open-faced. Purists will tell you a lemon wedge is all you need to bring out a crab’s sweetness. That’s true. But a lemon-parsley sauce spiked with jalapeños goes one better, adding fiery, herbal notes.

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CreditAndrew Scrivani for The New York Times

For the bread, use whatever good loaf you like except the kind riddled with large air holes, which leak crab juice and defy the point. Dense country loaves or pains de mie (also called Pullman loaves) are better, more absorbent options.

Then there are the crabs themselves, which, if you’ve never cooked before, could put you off. Part of this may be squeamishness about cleaning them (typical instructions: Cut off the crab’s face behind the eyes, then pull out the spongy innards). There’s also the intimidation factor of getting up close with something so strange; soft shells have the form of regular crabs, but instead of the rigid shell and snappy claws, they are as limp and wet as squid. They are simply blue crabs caught just after molting, before they’ve had a chance to grow a new shell. Vulnerable and unable to pinch, they are easy prey for all sorts of crustacean-loving predators, ourselves included.

So do not be deterred. Soft shells are one of the easiest dinners around, especially if you ask your fishmonger to clean them for you. The only downside is that your window for cooking them narrows considerably. Once they are cleaned, you need to cook them that same day, and preferably within a couple of hours. But then your crab toast will be ready in minutes.